The Rabbit: “Poster Child” for Animal Rights

—“I should be the poster child for animal rights. I am slaughtered for my fur. I am slaughtered for my meat. I am factory farmed in rabbit mills. I am tortured by vivisectors in their ‘labs.’ I am the third most commonly ‘euthanized’ companion animal. I am hunted and snared. I am the object of blood sports. I am often cruelly abused. I am given as a live animal prize. I languish in pet stores. Why aren’t I?”

—Poster from RabbitWise, Inc., a rabbit advocacy organization.

This rabbit makes a very good point. One would be hard-pressed to find another animal upon whom so many exploitative and abusive practices converge. The rabbit, in both its domesticated (Oryctolagus cuniculus) and wild (various genera worldwide, notably Sylvilagus, the cottontail rabbit of North and South America) species, is perhaps the prime exemplar of prey animals. It is a gentle, herbivorous, unassuming, and relatively silent creature. This mildness, which is so charming to observe and contemplate, unfortunately seems to practically invite the rabbit’s exploitation in myriad ways by the stronger and more powerful—namely, humans.

Factory farmed and eaten as meat

According to the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), some 2 million rabbits are raised and killed for meat in America each year. Rabbits are raised for meat in the usual crowded, unsanitary conditions that are the standard in the factory farming of chickens and other animals: intensive confinement in wire cages that hurt their feet, near-complete lack of mobility, stress, health disorders, denial of veterinary care, and, nine or 10 weeks later, long-distance shipping in trucks to slaughter.

Rabbits are exempt from the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act (1958), which requires that animals killed at federally inspected slaughterhouses must be rendered unconscious before they are killed, usually through a quick blow to the head. Because this rule does not apply to rabbits, they can be killed in any manner, no matter how abusive. The stunning may be done by breaking the rabbitsâ€™ necks, but rabbits raised for meat are generally too large for this to be done easily, and many remain conscious and sensate as they are slaughtered. The method of killing can be bludgeoning with an iron pipe, cutting the throat and hanging the rabbit to â€œbleed out,â€ decapitation, or shooting.

Factory farmed and killed for fur

The European-centered rabbit-fur trade (producing countries include France, Spain, Italy, Denmark, and Portugal) likewise breeds and raises rabbits in factory-like conditions that reduce the animals to mere commodities for profit. The most recent figures available (1997) were that France alone produced more than 70 million rabbit pelts in that year; the increasing popularity of fur indicates that the figure has since grown.

Contrary to the claims of the industry, fur is not a “by-product” of the rabbit-meat industry. The rabbits raised for their fur constitute a whole other population. The requirements of the meat and fur industries are at odds, and different production methods—and sometimes different breeds—are used in each. The velvety-soft fur of the Rex rabbit yields particularly high profits; New Zealand White and California White breeds are also commonly farmed for fur as well as meat.

The rabbits are bred frequently, live in crowded cages until separated at the age of about 7 weeks, and are killed at the age of 10-12 weeks (White rabbits) or 8-9 months (Rex rabbits). The bare wire mesh cages in which they are kept hurt their paws, which have no pads. Veterinary care is poor. The buildings in which the cages are kept may be cleaned only a few times a year, after several generations have lived and died there. The rabbits are unable to engage in any kind of normal social behavior or exercise. Stress and other psychological and physical damage are common.

Rabbits raised for their fur are stunned by electrocution or by a blow to the head (smashing against a wall); this method may be used to kill the rabbit or to merely stun it before the throat is slit and it is hung up to bleed out. Some incisions are made in the skin and the fur is then ripped off. This is done in full view of the still-living rabbits who are awaiting their own slaughter.

Further, HSUS investigations in 2006 and 2007 found that the practice of mislabeling real rabbit and other fur as “fake” is rampant in the clothing industry. Six major retailers were found to be selling such mislabeled products, which bore labels such as “polyester” and “ecological fur.” Analysis showed that the fur was real.

Exploited as pets

Rabbits are also bred as pets by small-scale breeders and in rabbit mills (equivalent to puppy mills), and then sold privately or in pet stores, or given away as prizes at carnivals and fairs. Customers usually buy rabbits on impulse, and pet stores rarely provide education regarding the care of a pet rabbit. The new owner is in all likelihood unprepared to care for a rabbit. Although rabbits make good pets in the right hands, they have very special needs, and lack of proper knowledge as to how to care for them leads to the sickness or death of a great many pets, especially after the Easter season, when rabbits are often bought and given to children as gifts. Thousands are surrendered to animal shelters, where they will be euthanized, and countless others are simply abandoned outdoors to their fates.

Abused in laboratories

The use of rabbits in biomedical and product testing is a longstanding and well-known practice. Their small size and docility, as well as the relatively inexpensive cost to obtain and breed them, make them desirable as test subjects. The American Anti-Vivisection Society (AAVS) reports that in 2004, the number of laboratory rabbits in use was over 260,000, and some 43 percent of those individuals were subjected to tests that caused pain, distress, or both, sometimes without any drug relief.

A previous Advocacy for Animals post (“Scientific Alternatives to Animal Testing”) described a very common test on rabbits, the Draize test: “A chemical, such as a cosmetic or pharmaceutical agent, is applied to the skin or eye of a rabbit. The results are supposed to indicate how toxic a chemical is to human skin. The inaccuracy of the Draize test has been recognized for many years.”

Rabbits are also used in vaccine, cardiovascular, reproductive, and other kinds of research, subjected to stress tests and infected with sexually transmitted diseases, for example. Living conditions in the laboratory are poor, as the rabbits are test subjects and as such are fed a controlled diet of pellets (rather than the hay and greens on which they normally live) and are kept in isolation. This results in boredom, illness, and stereotypical behavior such as chewing on cage bars and excessive licking. Rabbits are often killed after the test is over so that their organs can be examined.

Rabbits deserve better

The human relationship with rabbits is a complex one. Symbols of harmlessness and innocence, these furry and appealing animals are, on one level, almost universally beloved (except, perhaps, by the gardeners whose plants they eat); they are icons in cartoons and children’s books. Yet the nature of the animals themselves—their habits, their natural history, and their needs—as well as the many ways in which rabbits suffer at the hands of humans often seem to go unnoticed. Perhaps it is that, seeming so gentle, they are easy to ignore. These much-abused animals deserve to be treated in accordance with their value. It is time to finally notice the rabbits and stand up for them.

Books We Like

The authors of Stories Rabbits Tell are experienced rabbit caregivers and rescuers, and their expertise is on display in this close look at rabbit behavior and natural history. The book shows an appreciation of the complex and varied personalities of rabbits, their social behavior, and the qualities they have come to symbolize in our culture. It also discusses vivisection and the meat, fur, and pet industries. Davis and Demello speak from their own experience with companion and rescue rabbits as well as relating what is known about rabbits from academic research. Stories Rabbits Tell is a thorough and authoritative resource, and a personal and insightful discourse on a misunderstood animal.

98 Comments

The abuse of these beautiful little animals must be put to a stop….the graphic pictures on this story made me cry, it is blatant cruelty of unobtrusive, sweet little creatures who just want to be out friends. We need every caring person to band together and stamp this out once and for all!!

Thank you for your comment, Emily. You should know, though, that RabbitWise did not write the article. They were kind and generous with their help and information as well as the photos, but the information came from a variety of sources, and responsibility for the accuracy of the article lies with the Advocacy for Animals staff.

I just found the Advocacy for Animals blog the other day when I launched my animal-related blog – keep up the great work – there is great info on the site. I agree, rabbits deserve better and they should be the poster child for animal rights.

I thank you for tellint the ‘truth’ about the unfair suffering of our furry friends. I have a rabbit rescue in Maine and have almost 100 bunnies who came from shelters and folks who purchased them for Easter. I get calls every week looking for placement. I have been given bunnies found in restrooms, on the side of the road, in parking lots, and lost in the woods. Education is the key to changing and caring for this innocent victims. Please keep upi the good work. Quan

I have a better candidate. How about Drosophila melanogaster? There is no other animal on which more experiments have been conducted. These animals are bred in captivity for the sole purpose of being used in experiments. And as for outside the lab, it is not uncommon that they are gruesomely killed on sight without a second thought. They are caught in traps and killed for no purpose.

But Drosophila melanogaster will never be a poster child for animal rights. Why? Because rabbits are cute and evoke an emotional response. The point is not to choose a worthy poster child, but to choose a cute, lovable one and use it as an appeal to emotion to further a cause.

It would be great if the sacrifice of animals were not necessary for human civilization, but that is not the world we live in. The fact is that animal experimentation is necessary. It saves lives.

Whatever the point of that last comment was (I think it was laughing at the idea that we should feel sorry for rabbits who are experimental test subjects), it misses the point of this article, which is that rabbits not only are used in labs but are also eaten, raised and killed for their fur, hunted, and exploited as pets. Exploited in many different ways = “poster child” for animal rights.

by definition, a sentient animal, is an animal that can feel pain and has emotions, how on earth can Drosophila melanogaster be compared to a rabbit if it clearly has no feelings or can not even express emotions!!!!!!

i was very disturbed when i recently found out that mars candy company also funds animal testing!Is anyone familiar to the new method of creating skins cells using donor cells to test cosmetics?
i think it is a revolutionary idea that can be used for the greater good~
stop animal testing!!

the things these people do to these rabbits is sick.
i think people should just stop it!
i know it doesnt work like that but it just kills me to see what is happening to these poor creatures.
everybody could just have fake fur because it doesnt hurt anybody or anything.
STOP THE TESTING NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

this is too much … that is desgusting … we should do something … we should not leave pore animals suffer like that … they abuse on them … but animals are living creatures … juste like us … please do something or not i will be stuck to do something and i do not feel like it … i trust you … animals ARE my life !!

How many of you are vegetarians? If you’re not, then you have no place here supporting the rights of animals.
As a medical doctor and scientist who experiments regularly on all types animals, including mice, pigs, rabbits etc., I feel the comment about the Drosophila Melanogaster (common fruit fly) is the only one that makes sense here.
I must go back to performing experiments and surgery on animals now so that the next time you or your loved ones come into my clinic or ER, I can let you live longer than nature would have allowed less than 50 years ago.
Your welcome.

And if we are vegetarians, or even vegans, does that mean that’s the only reason we are allowed to support the rights of animals, and that if we come into the clinic you will save our lives? Such arguments make no sense. One could just as easily say that, since you’re not a vegetarian (assuming that is the case), you have no right to comment on animal rights, either, because it’s obviously not something you care about. I’m not saying that’s true, but it makes as much sense.

After 30 years of watching humans experiment & tear apart the rabbit, Ive come to the conclusion that human greed rules this world. Ive had over 302 pet bunnies that Ive rescued & each of them were simply amazing. They all lived indoors, in safety. They were each a part of my family growing up. Ive spent my entire life so far helping them live the best life they could after what others had done to them. But, its never enough. My last little one who passed away showed me that he understood 20 different commands because he was loved. Rabbits are quite brilliant but no one other than a few of us have taken the time to really understand that. The fear & pain a rabbit suffers is the exact same as a human. God did not want a world like this, he wanted us to be kind to everything. Ive never killed, Ive been a vegetarian all my life. Killing rabbits is so wrong & its one of the greatest sins. Those that have tortured them will suffer.

You are 100% Correct ! People need to Appreciate what they have- but No, they “think” bigger is better. I am so MAD @ the manufactures of today ! They have Millions of “Crash Test Dummy’s ” to Test on ! Ummm lets see- Our Prisons are FULL . Take those Lozers and Test on THEM ! Leave Our Precious Animals ALONE ! God is Furious with what man is doing to “Our Animals” across the world- this is WHY there are so Many Hurricanes, Tornado’s, Land slides, etc. It is GODS way is “wiping out all the Evil” -who Cares that kids die, Not me, they Only will grow up to be like there KILLING Parents !!! I am a Animal Rescuer, I have Many Bunny’s Currently, many of my Bum’s are Special Needs Bun’s ! I Love My Life, and Love My Pets More ! God Bless You, and All the Bun’s in this Story, and Around this World- who are Being Abused, about to be Abused, Murdered, God Help them All. Amen. Callaway B.

Be aware of what you speak. Rabbits have allowed many of us to be able to survive into the 21st century. They are an undeniable asset to well-run scientific experiments, and a good source of dietary protein. I am an Animal Advocator not an Animal Activist, hence I believe in the humane use of animals for human beings. There is a large difference between “use” and “abuse”. Baby calves or baby piglets would cause the same community outcry. I like the attention brought to fruit flies; no visible hair, no normal pet advocacy, too tiny to care about … no worries about using them for our benefit.

This is unacceptable! Animal testing needs to be banned! I can’t find a word to say how cruel and brutality it is to see cute little bunnies getting abused by humans! What kind of world are we living in?!

I honestly had no idea that rabbits were also killed for their meat. Of course, in retrospect, this makes a lot of sense. However, I don’t recall seeing “rabbit” on the menu anywhere; where does this meat go? Is it packed into hot dogs, or is it just hidden in other kinds of similar meat?

Thank you for helping to expose the horrific truth. I will be adding a link to this page from my website. I am a vegetarian and advocate for animal/environmental protection. I created my website to help spread the word and get people involved.

Rabbits meant to be loved, not abused or eaten. They should have the same rights as other beloved pets such as dogs and cats. Why can’t people think before they abused them as if the rabbits just like their beloved pets at home???

What a shame. Until I went vegan, I never realized the abuses to rabbits… or cows, chickens, pigs, dogs, horses, etc. It seems every being that is nonhuman gets snared in exploitation and abuse. Empty the cages. Evolve. Go Vegan

I am a vegan and and a rabbit rescuer, so this article is especially relevant to me. Thank you for bringing this to the attention to so many people. We (humans) really need to change the way we treat all animals and what rabbits endure represent the horrors humans inflict on animals.

i am so sad to read this, i have a bunny, i saved him when he had been hit by a car, i fell in love with him and made sure the vets made him better so i could keep him and love him, if i had the money and funds i would save all these poor bunnies, how dare people kill them, how would u feel if any of us slaughterd u and ripped ur skin off!!! dont tink u wud like it so leave them alone!!!!! X X RABBITS ROCK X X

i just clicked on a google picture while researching animal cruelty at school for a project and found myself reading all this, ever since i was a lil nursery kid iv wanted to help animals, my ambition in life is to become a vet, after reading this i feel people definatly need to come together and sort this problem out, these poor rabbits abused like this, how would you feel if it was your child living in these cramped conditions or suffering like this? my rabbit recently caught a disease, it was late at night when she was struggling to breathe, couldnt contact a vet so i made the desicion of her not suffereing and my dad snapped her neck, and she went with no pain, people are saying above that rabbits suffer out of these labs, getting shot etc, well gettin shot would be a better more humaine and quicker death than this, i am disgusted with how people can abuse animals day in day out and still get sleep at night, it makes me physically sick. and to be honest anyone that abuses a animal no matter what animal. SHOULD DIE.

“if this is about killing animals i hate you and showing dead animals is just rong you shouldnt be primiting it”

– really? i mean, really? Did you really just look at all the pictures and go: ugh!

that is horrifyingly pathetic.
also if anyone can help me out, I thought that toxicology tests were long-ago abandoned because they were ineffective and unethical?

and to that last reply, becky; did you know that parasites, leeches, ticks, and all those gross, creepy things are animals too? I hope that you’re talking about them as well, and not just about the cute fluffy rabbits…

That’s the very definition of a straw-man argument, though. No one mentioned parasites and “gross, creepy things” or said that caring about rabbits means not caring about creatures that aren’t cute and fluffy.

I think people who work in labs or torture these poor rabbits are sick and twisted, they are not right in the head. They are selfish people how dare they do that to a poor animal they are cold heartless people.

This is a great if depressing article. The treatment of these rabbits is horrible, and the more we all do every day to help them, the closer we will be to changing this. As someone who has lived in the country his whole live in central Canada, watching rabbits in the wild, I feel a strong connection to the free spirits of rabbits and other small, wild animals.

I wanted to mention something from personal experience without being inflammatory. This is for the Vegeterians and Vegans out there. My property is all forest/bush, about 40 acres or so. All around my land, greedy farmers are constantly trying to force me to sell my land to them so they can level bush to plant more crops. These are the crops that fill your needs as those who elect to eat only fruits/vegetables/grains. If I walk through a field after a combine has been through, I could take a multitude of pictures of not just rabbits but mice, voles, and even raccoons who use these fields for their burrows or paths to other safe wooded areas.

Not only do combines clearing fields kill millions of small animals such as rabbits every year, but farmland is destroying their natural habitat at an alarming rate. Please keep this in mind the next time you patronize someone about eating meat. That person may be a member of a humane society and a strong advocate towards animals. I see it as a natural choice being an omnivore to eat a balanced diet including meat, and I seriously question anyone’s education when they get on my case for it.

Thank you for reading, and best regards to our rabbit friends and those who care about them.

hi guys i’m only 13, too, but still. Killing rabbits are wrong, because in lots of religions it says that rabbits were never meant to be eaten by humans, and this is true, since they were actually just evolved, but if they had a religious purpose it would be to stop the trees and stuff getting in the way of people so in a way rabbits HELP people. If you keep eating them, and stuff, you do know that other animals won’t have anything to eat and loads more will die out! Seriously, leave the bunnies alone, and their nothting like humans so the test results will never be accurate, they’re an entirely different species. making skin cells would so work.
And eating it gives you disease 😮
Soz this is sooo long-but WEARING clothes for fashion is mean, i mean if rabbit had to be killed it would go to the starving people in AFRICA (but i’m vegan so don’t worry) not to some models wardrobe.
Thanks for your time-ps- if you said its not bad whats the point of searching for this stuff just to say its stupid. You guys really mustn’t have anything better to do, and must be bad scientists to say the skin cell thing don’t work cos it dose, my friends mum is blind scientist and she knows best.
hahaha
thanks so much for reading

IF OUR HEART IS FOOL OF LOVE AND COMPASION,
than we dont need to eat other beings!

WE MUST LEARN MORE!
If we open our selves to GOOD,LOVE,COMPASION…
everithing else just flow for everiones good!

GOOD IS ,when it is good for me,good for you,and good for universe at the same time. Yogin

We are gods onearth-thats wy, we must have responsibility!for our actions,
we must have knoledge and averness for our thoughts,feelings and actions!
everithing we are doing to others-it will come back to us!

I have read so many things that humans do to harm these beutiful animals that it makes me sick. I lucky to have a pet rabbit for 6 yrs. now and he is the best thing that has happend to me!!! They can teach us alot from there warm kind, gentle and loving nature. We need to protect them!!!!

I have a question. Why arent we testing on the real animals? Say pheadophiles, child abusers, animal abusers, rapists, murderers, terrorists etc I rescue bunnies and I cant believe what is done to these beautiful creatures. In fact, I cant beleive what some people do to animals period! Leave the animals alone for god sakes! Do unto others what is done unto you I say. So you abuse an animal how would you like it done to you? I have no problem with that.

The keyword here is CRUELTY. Yes, some of us are carnivors, probably, most of us, but only few of us, the greedy and the heartless, choose to be abusive, some to criminal point. They undermine humanity and should be stopped by law! Everybody needs to eat. Animals kill too, but not beyond their immediate need. Being intelligent species that we are, we should be putting as much effort in maintaining our humaine qualities as we are investing in technological progress. Educating everyone from childhood and following up with laws for those who did not make a good grade would help.

Fortunately, no human needs to eat animals or things that come from their bodies; it’s a choice. So if you want to stop eating meat and other products that exploit the lives of animals, it’s easy enough to do so.

I raise rabbits for meat and I have never seen any “inhumane” slaughter of rabbits. The only method I have seen is a sharp blow to the head rendering it unconscious. Then and only then will “cutting the throat and hanging the rabbit to â€œbleed out,â€” happen. As for the rest, wire cages do not hurt their feet. On rare occassions they will get somthing called sore hocks which can be prevented by putting a small board in their cage. A lot in this article is incorrect or one sided. You should do more research on the topic.

To Neil, to set the score straight:
That would be an excellent argument and would stop an animal rights activist dead in his tracks if the animals you eat had not lost huge amounts of energy as they lived and died. For each level of the food chain, 90% of the energy is lost to heat in the forms of bodily functions. If you ever bothered to research the topic or take a basic biology course, you would learn that a meat-eater would use about 19/20 more resources in terms of energy than a veg*n would. So you tend to kill more little shrews and mice than one who abstains from animals anyway.
Hope that helps out.

this is mean and cural no anmial deserves to be treated that way and the peolple who done that to the should be ashamed of there selfs its nonsence to do something like that to an innocent critter…………………………….

Robert, I’m afraid I don’t quite follow your argument—what do you mean by energy loss, and how does that connect to meat-eating? Would you mind clarifying?

I didn’t reply to Neil’s point before because what he said is frequently argued by people who think there must surely be a flaw in the ethics of vegetarianism and is easily disproved. Most grain production in the US goes to the feeding of animals. See, for example, a 1997 Cornell Science News report, which says, “The 7 billion livestock animals in the United States consume five times as much grain as is consumed directly by the entire American population.”

So you (Neil) may be trying to argue that so-called “meat-eaters” eat less grain than vegetarians and vegans. That’s wrong. They’re actually eating more; it’s just that most of it is has already been converted to animal flesh by the now-deceased animal on your plate. And therefore meat-eaters are “responsible” for more of the killings of little voles and mice and so forth that the combines kill when they harvest grain.

Omg I saw a commercial on TV yesterday and it made me cry! It was all about animal abuse and what not. YOU CRUEL PEOPLE ARE JERKS! YOU ARE KILLING POOR DEFENSELESS ANIMALS! How would you lke it if a bunny came to your door and just rammed you against a wall and cut out your throught? They have feelings too ya know! And every single one of you that abuses your pet and mabye even kills it wont go to a good place when U die! cya guys i got homework. SAVE THE ANIMALS!

i think this is EVIL these people have no feelings … theses poor animals dont do anything wrong and they still get killed i have my own raBBITS AND SEEING THIS JUST MAKES ME FEEL SO SICK AND I WISH IT COULD STOP

this is totally out of a civilized human era .rabbits / bunnies are The GOD creation .who are we to easily make their life miserable and worst than hell .WHO ARE WE ? think what you felt when they have to suffer due to your satisfaction of using stupid and synthetic cosmetics that are not making you look any more than a hideous looking doll ,
ARE YOU STILL HUMAN ?????????

To those that think that they seriously want to prevent this ,STOP USING ALL TYPE OF COSMETICS .Its not worth it .Each and every country should have a gov agency in handling this issue .

If you were one of those rabbits, just think, would YOU! want to get killed for your meat? So factories should stop doing this and make FAKE! fake fur instead. If we keep this up they’ll be gone forever! The rabbits that they raise so then they can kill them for their fur never realy got to experience what love, having a home is like, and having a family and being cared for from a family that loves you, to them its like their an orphan. So just think, if you were one of those rabbits what would happen and feel what those mean people will do to you, you wouldn’t be happy now would you. But if we do stop this they’ll all have loving and caring family’s forever!!!!

rabbits should be free.I had two rabbits named lime and lemon and they should be pets not for fur.I know their fur is soft but you have to take care of rabbits because they are one of the gifts of god to us

The abuse to these harmless animals is both cruel and unimaginably un-humane. I feel sorry for all of the rabbits that went through and the rabbits that will go through this un-humane torture and wickidly cruel slaughter. It litterly took me two hours to read this artical because it made me cry so much. If I was a little older, I would form a compain to end all of this rabbit cruelty. I would go to the U.S senet and ask them to make a law about being humane to not just rabbits, but to all animals, and that it should be illigel to slaughter rabbits for fun or just there pelts. Also, when the rabbit breeders and scientists are keeping the rabbits, they would have to make sure that the rabbits were properly socilized and cared for with the hay and greens that they eat, and the vetrinary care that they need/require. And I say, NO MORE TO BARE WIRE MESH CAGES! If they want to breed rabbits, then they will have to have the proper cages and tools that are nessary to have a well-grown, healthy rabbit farm.
Animal lover,
Savannah

The only way to stop animal cruelty is for there to be no humans. Humans will always believe they have the right to torture bunnies.I have had and still do have pet bunny rabbits. How many people in this world do things to children? Poor beautiful bunnies mean nothing to them. It makes ne ashamed to be a human being:(

So are you people against eating meat? Or just rabbit meat? Or are you just against cruelty to rabbits and other animals but are ok with meat as long as its done humanely? I wish you would specify.
I breed my own rabbits for meat and they have a big barn that they roam around free in; eat off the bales of hay for the horses and get the barn swept up every day. It is definetly not over crowded, I get no fights, and they are not over bred, and do not become “trash” when they are too old to breed. I also use the fur. So am I cruel because I eat rabbits?
You cannot say people are cruel or enjoy killing animals just because they eat them or use their fur. Instead of spouting against everyone who eats rabbits you should be pointing out market hunting (not to be confused with actual hunters) and poachers. Only psychos enjoy killing animals. Hunters do not ENJOY the kill. Nor do I. Animals are here to eat, after all humans are animals and our body needs protein from animals. Rabbits are one way among many others to get that. And if you believe in this sort of stuff, well then god put animals here for us to eat. If he had no problems with animals being slaughtered to praise him, then im sure he doesnt care if we eat them either… But who believes in that sort of thing anyways?

I do not think that is right to be killing rabbit rabbit are like human beings 2 the do not desever to be killed i have some and i tell everyone that if they kill one of my baby i am going to call the cops on them and i am not playin either

i hate it when people abuse any animal especialy rabbits becauce i have a pet rabbit myself and i let her have the run of the whole garden and she is so smart and intellegent just like humans. how can someone harm them.

I m 100% vegetarian.I had few rabbits in my home.I took care of them many years.they are very innocent ,gentle,and intelligent(when u spend a lot of time with them,u realize it)too.Rabbits looks very cute and beautiful.they have a lot of emotions too.
How can anyone imagine to cut their heads,or smashing them.people who eat rabbit’s meat r sick .They can be compared with a devil. Abusing in laboratories,killing for fur r the most shameful acts .I condemn this.
About cody’s comment- hey cody .just cut a small piece of your leg/body,then fry it in a pan and eat.OK.Have u nothing for eat ??How can u eat such a cute creation of nature?? Only a goblin or devil can do these kind of acts which are shown in this website.
All the lovers of animals should do something to STOP this.

My rabbits all have distinct and unique personalities. I have notices that males behave very differently than females.
There is no doubt that they are intelligent, as are pigs and other animals that people don’t care about. It kills me, but I feel powerless…

As the proud owner of a pet rabbit, I am truly horrified at the inhuman punishments these innocent animals undergo, which make the abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanemo Bay pale in comparison. As has been said before, why not perform the experiments on the real criminals!? Just reading this makes me sick. Toughen the penalties for animal cruelty, or better yet, make the criminals cut off their own ears and get eaten alive by flies.

I raise rabbits for meat & educational purposes (4-h). We are not cruel to our animals. In fact, I’m rather attached to my breeders. Not all people that breed rabbits are bad people. We do save the pelts because it would be a waste to not try to use every part of an animal. I do however believe that my life isn’t any more important than a rabbits. We love rabbits and respect them. All of our rabbits are happy and healthy. We try to give them the best life possible. All of our rabbits even have toys! I’m against the torture and cruelty to animals because they all deserve the right to a good life.

The number of inaccuracies on this article is quite startling, but the most disturbing is the one that claims that federal humane slaughter laws do not require rabbits to be stunned & unconscious before being killed. This is absolutely false, rabbits (and all animals not slaughtered under religious slaughter rules) must be unconscious prior to being killed. A bit of research would have shown how inaccurate that supposition is. I am sorry to learn that Advocacy For Animals does such a poor job of investigation and research. I do have to admire their ability to evoke an emotional response in people – too bad that this response is based on falsehoods and not accurate information.

Mr. or Ms. K, please point me to the section of the Humane Slaughter Act that says this. I don’t see it. I’ll get you started; Section 1902(a) says, “in the case of cattle, calves, horses, mules, sheep, swine, and other livestock, all animals are rendered insensible to pain by a single blow or gunshot or an electrical, chemical or other means that is rapid and effective, before being shackled, hoisted, thrown, cast, or cut.” Are rabbits “livestock”? Perhaps they are, but because they’re not explicitly named here, I don’t know.

And, to clarify what’s covered by the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act, your own characterization is off; the introduction says, “This Act requires the proper treatment and humane handling of all food animals slaughtered in USDA inspected slaughter plants. It does not apply to chickens or other birds.” So it does not apply to all animals not slaughtered under religious slaughter rules; in fact, it leaves out the majority of “food” animals.

Nate what you said is so true animals like the fruit fly will never have a chance of being saved because they aren’t cute and people probably don’t care if a fly is going to get killed for animal testing.people kill flies just because they are annoying buzzing around the house. I don’t think it’s fair only animals like rabbits get so much attention because they are cute .

Dear Administrator – I don’t understand your question – the text you quoted clearly sets forth the requirements. Or is it that you imagine that because goats, bison, water buffalo, llamas, and rabbits are not listed, that they are somehow not “other livestock”, and so animal butchers gleefully dive through this loophole to cut apart these animals while they are still concious? What did you think “other livestock” applied to – naga? A simple query of any slaughterhouse inspector could have answered this question. As for the issue of poultry slaughter – quit moving the goalposts. Rabbits are neither chickens nor any other kind of bird. Furthermore, if you had visited any commercial slaughterhouse, you would see that the birds were stunned electronically prior to being decapitated. It is true that this is not always done in small farms – where the animal is simply decapitated. While this may sound gory to sensitive ears, a rational consideration of the process would have to admit that the bird was not feeling any pain once its head had been removed with a single blow of an ax. A bit of original research, rather than relying on inflamatory claims – would go a long way in correcting the inaccuracies of this article.

How is mentioning poultry slaughter “moving the goalposts”? I quoted that in response to your erroneous claim that the only exceptions to the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act were religious ones. My motives were not underhanded as you seem to think. Nor was my question about whether rabbits were “livestock” rhetorical. What followed was what I found in the law as a definition of the terms and applications.

According to my information, rabbits are NOT classified as livestock by the USDA but in the same category as “poultry,” and are thus exempt from the humane slaughter regulations. I can’t find anything negating that on the USDA website. If you know for sure that my information is out of date, please cite a source.

Further, I have just looked at a couple of websites of commercial “back-yard” rabbit-meat breeders; one such has a “primer” on slaughtering that goes through the details of various methods, including twist-and-crunch, blunt trauma, and decapitation. It says nothing about electrical stunning. I would like to point out that in America, most rabbit meat production is in operations of this kind that do their own slaughtering. How many commercial slaughterhouses slaughter rabbits, and what percentage of all slaughtered rabbits do they handle?

Rabbit tastes so good though… You people with your first world problems. Be thankful that you live in a country that allows you the free time and luxury to be so petty. You are to humanity what the dog is to the wolf, a distortion of the species breed for specific traits, to be docile and easily controlled. A dog is a wolf that never needs to “grow up” and you are the human analogue. Children.

it is sad what animals go through, all animals. but what separates a fur coat from beef? down duvets? leather shoes? they are all bred for a sole purpose, and that purpose is to use there bodies once they die. i have a pet indoor rabbit at home and i love animals, i just believe aside from the lab treatments, its all just a form of farming. i dont think you can stick up for one cause without going vegan because its complete double standards.

To clarify, I think you CAN stick up for one cause without going vegan, and many people do. I just think it’s more ideologically consistent to recognize that any sentient animal deserves the same compassion: rabbit, dog, cow, chicken, etc.

While it isn’t totally inconceivable that a fruit fly might be able to feel something akin to pain, they have far less sophisticated nervous systems than vertebrates. Comparing them to rabbits is reductive reasoning. Rabbits are demonstrably capable of feeling pain in the sense that humans are due to the fact that they have nervous systems not terribly dissimilar from our own. Fruit flies are not. Aside from that, the necessity of the harm inflicted upon the two differs by orders of magnitude. It is, bluntly put, a matter of course that insects will be destroyed by human existence. It is actually, in the truest sense of the word, a necessity. Killing rabbits, in contrast, is not necessary.

It is a choice. And if that choice inflicts pain, that at the very least compels the inflictor to take steps to minimize it. The idea that animal collateral is an inevitable part of human existence is, I think, the one upon which the entire animal rights debate hinges. Yet even that conclusion does not preclude consideration of ways in which that collateral can be minimized or eliminated when possible.